Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Cycle Chronology
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Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Cycle Chronology Last update: April 2005 This annotated chronology is based on the data sources that follow each entry. Public sources often provide conflicting information on classified military programs. In some cases we are unable to resolve these discrepancies, in others we have deliberately refrained from doing so to highlight the potential influence of false or misleading information as it appeared over time. In many cases, we are unable to independently verify claims. Hence in reviewing this chronology, readers should take into account the credibility of the sources employed here. Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation. 2003-1993 1 August 2003 KRASNOYARSK ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT ALLOW IMPORT OF UKRAINE'S SPENT FUEL UNTIL DEBT PAID On 1 August 2003, UNIAN reported that, according to Yuriy Lebedev, head of Russia's International Fuel and Energy Company, which is managing the import of spent nuclear fuel to Krasnoyarsk Kray for storage, the Krasnoyarsk administration will not allow new shipments of spent fuel from Ukraine for storage until Ukraine pays its $11.76 million debt for 2002 deliveries. —"Krasnoyarskiy kray otkazhetsya prinimat otrabotannoye yadernoye toplivo iz Ukrainy v sluchaye nepogasheniya 11.76 mln. dollarov dolga," UNIAN, 1 August 2003; in Integrum Techno, www.integrum.com. 28 February 2002 RUSSIAN REACTOR FUEL DELIVERIES TO COST $246 MILLION IN 2002 Yadernyye materialy reported on 28 February 2002 that Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev and Ukrainian Minister of Fuel and Energy Vitaliy Gayduk signed an agreement under which Ukraine will buy reactor fuel worth $246 million from Russia in 2002. Ukraine will pay for the fuel in regular installments of $22.2 million. —"Rossiya postavit yadernoye toplivo," WPS Yadernyye materialy, No. 7, 28 February 2002. 23 March 2002 UKRAINE TO BEGIN LOADING VVER-1000 REACTORS WITH US-PRODUCED FUEL IN 2003 On 23 March 2002, Ukranian Minister of Fuel and Energy Vladimir Lushkin announced that Ukraine intends to begin loading one of its VVER-1000 reactors with US-made fuel in 2003. The five-year project will be carried out with the assistance of Westinghouse, which, in accordance with the US-Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Initiative signed in June 2000, was selected to provide Ukraine with fuel, training, and technology to re-fit its reactors to fuel assemblies of US manufacture. The process of re-fitting Ukranian VVER-1000 reactors to accept US-made fuel Related content is available on the website for the Nuclear Threat Initiative, www.nti.org. This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS. assemblies is already ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2003. —Vitaliy Matarykin, ITAR-TASS, 23 March 2002; in "Ukraine to Load Nuclear Plant with Fuel from Non-Russian Source in 2001 [sic]," FBIS Document CEP20020323000043. 15 August 2002 FUEL PRODUCTION AGREEMENT APPROVED On 15 August 2002, the government of Ukraine approved an agreement on developing a joint venture incorporating Ukrainian, Russian, and Kazakhstani firms for the purpose of manufacturing nuclear fuel. It is hoped that the joint venture will enable Ukraine to reduce its nuclear fuel expenditures by 25%. The joint venture was registered in October 2001. Enerhoatom signed contracts with the joint venture for fuel supplies even before the agreement was approved. Zaporizhzhya NPP is to be the first to receive the new fuel. Firms involved in the venture include the Ukrainian State Property Fund, Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom, and Russia's TVEL. —ITAR-TASS, 15 August 2002; in "Ukraine approves agreement on producing nuclear fuel," FBIS Document CEP20020815000386. UNIAN, 23 September 2002; in "Ukraine begins diversification of nuclear fuel supplies," FBIS Document CEP20020923000196. 10 February 2001 UKRAINIAN RADA COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ON UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE EFFORTS On 10 February 2001 Zerkalo nedeli published an article by the Supreme Rada Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Safety Committee Chairman, Aleksandr Gudyma, outlining his views on Ukraine's need to develop a domestic nuclear fuel cycle. Gudyma considers ensuring Ukraine's energy security, which he defines as not relying on any single country to supply more than 30 percent of its of energy needs, as one of the key aspects of Ukrainian national security. Unfortunately, according to Gudyma, Ukraine is far from achieving that goal, since it is so heavily dependent on Russia in this area. This includes nuclear energy, which Gudyma considers to be the "backbone" of Ukraine's energy system. Not only is Russia the sole source of Ukraine's nuclear fuel, but it is also the recipient of Ukraine's spent fuel, and the provider of 85 percent of equipment used at Ukrainian power plants. This state of affairs gives Russia considerable means of influence over Ukraine. Although Ukraine's government issued a number of directives concerning the development of domestic fuel cycle beginning in 1993, the project has not yet begun to be implemented. Gudyma partially ascribes the slow pace of this effort to a strong pro-Russian lobby in virtually every one of Ukraine's governments. Other causes of Ukraine's failure to develop a domestic fuel cycle include underfinancing of the program. While the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Fund (NFCF) was to collect a portion of the income from power generated by nuclear fuel received as payment for nuclear warheads transferred to Russia, in actuality it received only a fraction of funds it was supposed to receive. Even though Ukraine's government has taken measures to ensure that nuclear power plants' indebtedness to the NFCF is erased by 2004, the fund will receive only a small fraction of the funds it was intended to receive (estimated at about $800 million) due to the devaluation of the hrivne. Gudyma considers the original figure of $800 million more than adequate for the purpose of developing domestic fuel production, basing this estimate on South Korea's successful $400 million effort to construct a fuel assembly plant. Gudyma also criticizes Ukraine's slow progress in expanding uranium ore mining operations in Ukraine. While the plans to expand uranium mining have been criticized on the grounds of cost (Ukrainian uranium would cost approximately $40-42/kg, as opposed to $18/kg for uranium supplied by Related content is available on the website for the Nuclear Threat Initiative, www.nti.org. This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS. Russia), Gudyma predicts that the current uranium glut will be over in a few years, leading to high uranium prices. Gudyma also points to the Russian strategic energy plan which also predicts higher uranium prices in the future and treats uranium mining as profitable up to $80/kg. Given these factors, Gudyma considers the creation of a domestic fuel cycle, including fuel assembly manufacture, to be in Ukraine's national interest and within Ukraine's technical and financial capabilities, particularly if it uses the experience of other Central European countries in such areas as spent fuel storage. —Aleksandr Gudyma, "Realii i perspektivy yaderno-toplivnogo tsikla Ukrainy," Zerkalo nedeli, 10 February 2001, p. 9; in WPS Yaderniye Materialy, 7 March 2001. 11 March 2001 ENERHOATOM PLANS TO BUY $209.9 MILLION IN NUCLEAR FUEL FOR 2001 Interfax reported on 11 March 2001 that Enerhoatom plans to buy $209.9 million in nuclear fuel from Russia's TVEL for 2001. Nuclear fuel will be bought for all 13 operating NPP units in Ukraine at the same level as last year. Enerhoatom President Nur Nihmatulin stated that the payments to TVEL will begin in March at a monthly rate of $21 million. Nihmatulin further added that the Russian price of nuclear fuel is 30% lower than the world market price. Enerhoatom reported that in 2001 Ukraine also plans to export spent nuclear fuel worth $73.9 million to Russia. The spent fuel will be transported to Mayak Production Association in Chelyabinsk and the Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk. Last year spent fuel amounting to $46.6 million was transported from Ukraine to Russia. According to Nihmatulin, Ukraine pays Russia approximately $370 for 1kg of exported spent fuel, and construction of spent fuel storage facilities in Ukraine would reduce these export costs by 9-10 times. —Interfax, 11 March 2001; in "Ukraine to Transport Spent Nuclear Fuel Worth $73.9 Million to Russia by Year- End," FBIS Document CEP20010312000079. "V tekushchem godu Ukraina vyplatit Rossii 209 mln. dol. za svezheye yadernoye toplivo," UNIAN, No. 9, 26 February-4 March 2001. 5 July 2001 TRILATERAL AGREEMENT ON FUEL FABRICATION SIGNED On 5 July 2001 Kommersant reported that Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom, Russia's TVEL, and Ukraine's Energoatom signed an agreement to establish a joint venture to produce nuclear fuel elements for Ukrainian nuclear power plants. —"Bratya Nigmatulliny obyedinyayut energetiku," Kommersant, 5 July 2001; in Integrum-Techno, www.integrum.com. 18 February 2000 UKRAINE TO BUY NUCLEAR FUEL DIRECTLY FROM TVEL Ukraine will purchase its nuclear fuel directly from the Russian company TVEL. According to Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, by eliminating middlemen, the change will bring down fuel costs by 30 percent.